WTF is Cycle Syncing?

February 5, 2018

I recently posted in my Instagram story about how I was adjusting my morning routine on a specific day to accommodate my cycle syncing needs for that day, and received a barrage of responses and texts from my friends, all essentially asking me, “What the f*** is cycle syncing?”. Out of curiosity I did a poll and discovered that 93% of the women I interact with on social media had never heard of it before!

I wish I was surprised, but I can’t say that I am. I had never heard of cycle syncing myself until recently, when I saw the phrase casually mentioned on a health Q+A. I was curious and started doing a great deal of research, eventually finding myself buried in books, articles and testimonials about the myriad benefits of this practice.

So… let’s answer the question! Cycle syncing is the practice of adjusting your food, exercise, mental focus and sex life to the stages of your fertility cycle. Did you know that we have 4 distinct stages in our cycle, and that the fluctuations of our hormones in each stage affect us in a variety of ways? They prime us to be more successful in different types of mental tasks at different times of the month, they influence our energy/endurance levels, make us feel more/less amorous and cause our body to crave different nutrients. By understanding these fluctuations we can make decisions to support our bodies and come into a harmonious flow with our, well, flow. Benefits of cycle syncing can include reduction of PMS symptoms, weight loss and other physical improvements, increased happiness… I could go on and on.

The four stages of our cycle are Follicular, Ovulation, Luteal, and (you guessed it) Menstrual. I’ll be doing more in depth posts about each phase in the coming months, and sharing my own tips for harnessing the power of this practice for your health.

If you are feeling the pull to dive in deep with cycle syncing, I recommend this book and the MyFlo app (it’s the best couple of bucks I’ve ever spent).